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Romans

Because the Romans cremated their dead, they left behind plenty of urns full of human ashes but very few complete remains. So Herculaneum represented the first large group of Roman skeletons ever found.

Now that the skeletons had been exposed to the air, they had to be properly preserved as soon as possible or they would quickly disintegrate and turn to dust. If that was allowed to happen, a priceless opportunity to find out exactly what the ancient Romans had looked like and how they had lived would be lost. It was strange that Vesuvius the volcano that had caused one of the biggest natural disasters in the world, was now giving the most exciting assignment any physical anthropologist could even dream of. Recreate the lives of these men, women and children who had lived and died so long ago was an exciting opportunity. The bones could talk.

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